“Dammit!” Jude’s flushed face. “Erin? Sweetheart, are you all right?” He pulled her up, cradling her in his arms as his gaze darted over her body.
They’d broken the table.
He was still lodged inside her. Spikes of pleasure still trembled through her body.
And they’d broken the table.
Erin laughed, a helpless, rusty bubble of sound that lifted her lips.
Jude shook his head. “I didn’t mean—”
She kissed him. And laughed again.
A deep rumble burst from him. Small lines appeared around his eyes and his mouth curved. She’d never seen him smile so fully before.
And she couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed. Laughed, and meant it. Not the fake crap that so often slipped out.
But really laughed.
She stared up at Jude. The man really was gorgeous. She should have noticed it from the beginning. How had she ever thought that he looked cruel or cold?
She traced his scar with a fingertip.
Sexy.
And—damn it all—she was very afraid that she was falling for him.
Erin hadn’t come home.
He stared up at the dark house, his body taut as a slow anger pumped through him.
He’d expected her to run home. Expected her guard to be there, standing watch again. He’d planned for the ass**le.
He’d been more than ready to rip the hunter wide open.
But she wasn’t there. Neither was he.
A growl built in his throat. Not part of the plan.
This wasn’t the way things were supposed to go, dammit. Why couldn’t she ever show her appreciation? Why the hell did she keep jerking him around?
And if she’d let that cat touch her…
His teeth snapped together.
The tiger shifter would be dying soon. And it would be a long, painful death.
This time, he’d let Erin watch—every moment. She’d understand then. She’d realize how much he loved her. She’d see that he would do anything for her.
When he offered her the blood, she’d smile that slow smile, and be his.
Forever.
Chapter 10
Jude’s fingers trailed over her breast, skimming the nipple gently, then sliding under the round globe. Slowly, softly, then he touched her scar.
Erin didn’t flinch and she didn’t even pull away— pretty impressive, she thought. Swallowing, she stared up at the ceiling of Jude’s bedroom. He was all around her, surrounding her with his scent and his body. A dangerous shifter. A man who could rip apart his enemies.
But she’d never felt safer.
His thumb brushed over the raised flesh. “Tell me.”
No more running. She’d decided that. No more running, no more hiding. Better start now. “He caught me once, broke into my home, reached my bedroom.” She’d woken to his touch. Cold claws sliding down her face.
Jude tensed against her, but he didn’t speak and his hands didn’t fall away from her.
Not yet.
“I don’t really know how he does it but, he can hide his scent.” Tricky bastard. “Maybe herbs or something. Hell, maybe he can just control it at will. I don’t know.” A light chill seemed to cover her flesh. “Today, I caught his scent because he wanted me to. That’s the way he plays his games.”
“He was luring you out, and you walked right to the bastard.” Anger there, vibrating in his voice.
“I’m tired of running,” she said simply. “I can’t keep doing this. He’s not going to stop. He’ll just keep killing and hunting me, and I can’t keep running.” The rules in this twisted game were changing. One way or another.
She wanted the warmth of Jude’s flesh against her, but she couldn’t just lay there anymore. She rose, pushing from the bed, pushing away from him, and tugged a sheet with her. Erin wrapped it around her body and stared down at him. “You know I can’t shift.”
A nod. He sat up, the bed covers draped over his naked groin.
She licked her lips. “I don’t—I don’t have all of a shifter’s enhanced senses either.” Flawed. “My sense of smell—yeah, it’s strong.” Actually, she’d learned it was stronger than most shifter’s. “But my hearing is just like a human’s, so that bastard was able to sneak right up to me, and I didn’t even know he was there until it was too late.”
Blue eyes held hers. “Too late?” No emotion there. Flat and cold.
Her gaze dropped to the bed and she saw that his claws were out.
Not really so cold after all.
“I never saw his face.” Now she was the one without emotion. “As soon as I woke up, he shoved some kind of hood over me.”
Darkness.
Razor sharp claws.
Fear.
How many nights had she stayed awake in her bed? Too scared to sleep because she’d been afraid he’d come back?
“What did he do?”
“Used his claws to…cut away my clothes.” She paced away from him. The guy had been so fast. She’d been stunned, terrified. “I knew what he was going to do.” Her chin rose. “But he didn’t know how strong I could be. I fought the bastard.” The stupid scar. In one way, she was like other wolves. Her wounds always left a mark on her body. Her flesh healed, but it didn’t forget. Her hand dropped to hover over the rough ridge. “I got my own swipes in, but he got his, too.”
Jude jumped from the bed, caught her shoulders and hauled her close. “Erin…did he—”
“I got away.” Run, run. The words had been driving her for so long. “Ran naked and bloody down the street. I was afraid he’d chase after me, but”—her lip curved in a smile she knew wasn’t pretty—“he had his own wounds.”
She’d snagged a pair of sweats and a T-shirt off a clothesline down the street. Sweet Mrs. Sara Copeland—still doing her laundry the old fashioned way.
“I had already planned to leave Lillian before that night. After the attack, I never went back to my house.” A different hotel every night. Always looking over her shoulder. “The cops there couldn’t help me. What were they going to do against a shifter?”
“I can help you,” he told her, his fingers tight around her.
“I know.” She didn’t doubt his strength. “Night Watch was made for hunting guys like him.”
“Made for putting ’em down.”
Oh, but his eyes were bright and he was still holding her, staring at her with need and worry in that gaze.